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Craft Beer I.R.L. (In real life)

I’m not into crowds, don’t have too much free time anymore, and so I usually skip the beer fests and things like that. But, being someone who runs a beer blog, its still important to get out there once in awhile to tour a brewery and meet other beer nerds In Real Life. Don’t ya think?

Well, this past weekend I had the opportunity to do just that!

Here in Northern New Jersey is a little craft brewery called High Point Brewing Company. They’ve been around since 1994 I think, so they aren’t new to the craft beer scene at all. Old pros actually!

They specialize in German-style wheat beers and lagers using imported German ingredients and techniques which use only water, hops, malt and yeast. The head brewer and owner, Greg Zaccardi actually refined his brewing skills in Germany before coming back to NJ to start his own operation.

Needless to say, the beers are excellent! This weekend they had the Winter Wheat showcased, which I reviewed some time ago and gave it an excellent rating! Also on tap was their Hefeweizen and Amber Ale – the Hefe being the better of the two IMHO.

So, the little tour of High Point was cool in itself – but what made it even cooler? I got to meet in-person, The Brew Club’s own brewery tour master, Lee Salawich! Yep, he drove up from parts outside New Jersey just to tour the brewery and hang out for the afternoon!

As I mentioned, its not often I get to meet people I interact with online in real life, so this was a real treat. Even better, Lee had what seemed like a trunk-full of beer for me! Not to be outdone (but I was) I had a decent sampler of New Jersey beers from Flying Fish, River Horse and Cricket Hill for him to try.

So, I just thought I’d post about how sometimes, running this blog gets me to visit places and meet people that I would have not met or visited otherwise. Isn’t that cool?

By the way, I’m Lee’s take on the brewery tour, complete with pictures will be published next Friday! Be sure to check it out,especially if you’re in or around NJ. Ramstein is a beer worth trying!